20090813 Down but Not Out in DC Bi-Partisan, Bi-Cameral Efforts to Continue the Opportunity Scholarship Program

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Talking Points:
• If D.C. public schools were actually performing,
students would not need alternatives in the first place.
Students should not languish in failing schools waiting
for them to improve.
• The D.C.Opportunity Scholarship Program provides
low-income students the same chance to attend high-
quality schools as children of elected officials in the
nation’s capital.
• Overall D.C. Opportunity Scholarship students
perform a half grade ahead of their public school
counterparts in reading. Students using scholarships
longer perform more than two grades ahead in
reading.
• Elected officials do not sacrifice their children by
sending them to failing or unsafe schools. Initiatives
like the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
should be expanded, not eliminated, so struggling
families do not have to sacrifice their children.
MEDIA INQUIRIES: 202-631-0130
Executive Summary
This June, dozens of students who had
used D.C. Opportunity Scholarships
graduated from their chosen private high
schools. “We stand as examples of just
how successful this program can be, and
we will fight for its existence,” said
Georgetown Day School graduate Jordan
White, who earned a full scholarship to
Oberlin College in Ohio. Her younger
sister’s future is less clear.1
Enacted in 2004, the D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program has helped more
than 3,000 students from low-income
families do what children of Presidents
and Members of Congress have always
done: escape one of the country’s most
expensive, dysfunctional, and dangerous
schooling systems.
IWF Policy Brief Cutting-edge analysis of the news of the day from the Independent Women’s Forum
August 13, 2009
Down but Not Out in D.C.: Bi‐Partisan, Bi‐Cameral Efforts
to Continue the Opportunity Scholarship Program
By Vicki E. Murray and Evelyn B. Stacey
Brief # 25

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“Instead of abolishing
this successful
program, lawmakers
should expand it and
encourage states and
localities to embrace
similar reforms.”
Overall students who have used Opportunity Scholarships, which average $6,600, to attend
private schools perform a half grade ahead of their public school counterparts in reading.
Students using them longer perform more than two grades ahead in reading. Little wonder,
then, that more than four students applied for every available scholarship for the 2008-09
school year.2
Yet instead of expanding the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, President
Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and some Members of Congress want to end
it.3
President Obama has signaled that he is willing to allow the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program to continue, but only for current participants. No new students could apply. As it
stands now, the program will end after the 2009-10 school year unless Congress acts. Bi-
partisan, bi-cameral efforts are currently underway to keep the program open. Initiatives like
the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program help ensure that no more generations of
schoolchildren have to sacrifice their futures trapped in failing schools while the grown-ups
bicker about how to make things better.
Introduction
Just about every President and elected official promises
to improve our country’s public school system—in many
cases while sending their own children to private schools.
President Obama is no exception.
In spite of his pledge that education reform during his
administration would be guided by a “whether-it-works”
principle, President Obama, his Administration, and
some Members of Congress are attempting to terminate
the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program contrary to
evidence from the U.S. Department of Education that student reading achievement is
improving. As this policy paper will detail, the program works and provides participants with
better educational opportunities. Instead of abolishing this successful program, lawmakers
should expand it and encourage states and localities to embrace similar reforms.
Background on the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
Many experts consider 2004, the year the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program went into
effect, a pivotal year for education reform because “this was the year the president of the
United States endorsed school choice,” quipped Clint Bolick, then president and general
counsel of the Alliance for School Choice. He was not referring to long-time supporter
George W. Bush, but “Jed Bartlet, the liberal president on TV’s The West Wing. . . If even
Hollywood recognizes the importance of this educational reform, can the rest of the nation
be far behind?” asked Bolick.4
The idea of offering scholarships to low-income D.C. public school children was first
proposed more than a decade ago and has gained momentum since 1997. The District of
Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 1997 was first introduced by Sen. Daniel
Coats (R-IN). It passed unanimously in both the Senate and the House but in May, 1998,

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“Ultimately this issue
is not about ideology or
political correctness. It
is about providing a
new opportunity for
good education, which
is the key to success.”
President Clinton, whose daughter Chelsea attended the prestigious Sidwell Friends school,
vetoed the measure.5
Then, in 2002, Rep. Richard Armey (R-TX) introduced the District of
Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 2002, which ran concurrently with a
similar bill by Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH). Both bills died in committee.6
In February of the following year, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) reintroduced the bill as the District
of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 2003, but it died in the House
Committee of Government Reform that same month.7
Also in February 2003, Sen. Gregg
introduced the Opportunity for Every Child Act of 2003. It too died in committee.8
That summer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) urged greater bi-partisan support on behalf of
expanding educational options for low-income D.C. schoolchildren:
Mayor Anthony Williams (D) has proposed a five-year pilot program that would
offer low-income parents a choice in where they send their children to school in the
District. This proposal has the support of the president of the school board and
thousands of District parents...I have never before supported a voucher program...
[but] Based on the substantial amount of money pumped into the schools and the
resultant test scores, I do not believe that money alone is going to solve the
problem...Ultimately this issue is not about ideology or political correctness. It is
about providing a new opportunity for good education, which is the key to success.9
In July, Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-TX) introduced the District of Colombia School Choice
Incentive Act of 2003. The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program was authorized as part of
that Act, and signed into law on January 24, 2004.10
Also referred to as the D.C. voucher program, it is
the first federal program to provide elementary and
secondary education, or K-12, scholarships for low-
income D.C. students to attend participating
private schools of their parents’ choice. Eligible
students must live in the District, and their annual
family income cannot exceed 185 percent of the
federal poverty limit, which was $34,873 for a
family of four in 2004.11
Originally, the law stipulated that a participating
family's annual income could not rise above 200
percent of the federal poverty limit once students entered the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program. Scholarship parents, however, grew concerned that even slight increases in their
annual income could make their children ineligible for the program.12
So in 2006, Congress
raised the annual income limit for families with children already in the program to no more
than 300 percent above the federal poverty limit. As a result of this change, program
participants’ average annual family income went from $21,000 in 2006 to approximately
$22,600 in 2007, enabling 70 students to remain in the program who would have otherwise
“earned-out.”13
The income eligibility limit of 185 percent of the federal poverty level still
applies to new applicants.14

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“Parental satisfaction is
another measure of the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship
Program’s success.”
Scholarships are worth up to $7,500 and can be used for tuition, fees, and transportation to
participating D.C.-area private schools.15
Currently more than 1,715 D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program students, from families making less than $23,000, are attending 49
private schools of their choice.16
The number of scholarships available each year, between
1,700 and 2,000, depends upon annual Congressional appropriations, which have averaged
about $14 million.17
Opportunity Scholarships average $6,600, and at a majority of participating private schools
(54 percent) tuition is less than the $7,500 scholarship limit. Since 2004, more than 3,000
students have received scholarships through the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.18
Yet with more than 7,800 students having
applied since the program’s inception,
demand for Opportunity Scholarships far
outpaces supply.19
The latest evaluation of the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program found,
“Positive and statistically significant impacts
of the Program on overall student achievement in reading after three years” but “[n]o
significant impacts on overall student achievement in math after three years.” Specifically,
the evaluation noted, “The overall impact of the actual use of a scholarship is equivalent to
3.7 additional months of learning;” in other words, using a voucher puts students about a
half grade ahead of their peers. Students using scholarships for three years, the maximum
period for which data are available, the reading impacts “are equivalent to 1.5 or two years of
extra learning (14 to 19 months).”20
Parental satisfaction is another measure of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program’s
success. Fully 74 percent of scholarship parents gave their child’s chosen school a grade of
‘A’ or ‘B’. After academic quality, Opportunity Scholarship parents identify safety as the
second most important factor in choosing their children’s schools. Scholarship parents find
their children’s chosen schools safer and more orderly than parents whose children did not
win a scholarship through the lottery process.21
The Opportunity Scholarship Program is also part of the District’s “three-sector” funding
structure, established under the School Choice Incentive Act, which provides funding in
equal parts for D.C. public schools, charter schools, and Opportunity Scholarships.22
The
Act states that “available educational alternatives to the public schools are insufficient, and
more educational options are needed. In particular, funds are needed to assist low-income
parents to exercise choice among enhanced public opportunities and private education
environments…” 23
The three-sector plan divides approximately $50 million in annual federal funding among the
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, D.C. public district schools, and public charter
schools. This funding for the District’s public and charter schools is in addition to their
regular annual appropriations.24
Last year, as part of the fiscal year 2009 budget, Congress appropriated $54 million under the
three-sector strategy: $14 million for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program; $20 million

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“Yet instead of expanding the
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program, President Obama,
Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan, and some Members of
Congress have tried to end it.”
for District of Columbia Public Schools improvement; and another $20 million to expand
public charter schools in the District.25
President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget increased
that amount to $74 billion: $42 million to improve the District’s public schools; $20 million
for D.C. public charter schools; and $12 million for Opportunity Scholarships.26
The 2010
Financial Services, General Government Appropriations Bill passed on July 8, 2009,
appropriates $75.4 million: $13.2 million for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program;
$42.2 million for District of Columbia Public Schools improvement; and another $20 million
to expand public charter schools in the District.27
Many observers note that giving children from lower-income families the same chance to
attend private schools as elected officials’ children in our nation’s capital is a fair and
equitable policy goal.28
Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Chairman of the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, underscores the urgency of continuing the
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, “There are low-income children in the District who
can't wait for their local schools to turn around. Without programs such as this one, their
opportunity will be lost forever.”29
Yet instead of expanding the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program,
President Obama, Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan, and some
Members of Congress have tried to end
it.30
The Program Works
On April 3, 2009, the latest annual evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program
was publicly released. Lead investigator Patrick Wolf explained that Opportunity Scholarship
students demonstrated reading gains amounting to 3.7 months of additional learning overall,
increasing to 19 months for students who were in the program longer. Parents of
Opportunity Scholarship students “viewed private schools as safer, more orderly, and more
disciplined,” Wolf added.31
Thomas Stewart, who conducted evaluations of participating families, found that the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program led to “increased involvement by parents because of
increased involvement by private schools” to engage them. Another program evaluator,
Grover “Russ” Whitehurst, urged policymakers to review the data before making decisions
about the future of the program, stating, “It would be good if people who oppose
vouchers—regardless of the evidence—would say why they really do oppose them.”32
He
also urged program supporters not to overstate research findings, which showed that in
math there was no statistical difference between the performance of Opportunity
Scholarship students and public school students who did not receive scholarships.
Leading education expert Jay P. Greene, head of the Department of Education Reform at
the University of Arkansas, who was not an official evaluator, reviewed the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program final report along with the extensive body of research on
scholarship programs, which totaled 18 programs in 11 states, including the District of
Columbia. He notes that there is more rigorous scientific research on such scholarship

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“The credibility of other
opponents is also being
called into question,
including that of the
country’s largest teachers
union, the National
Education Association.”
programs “than any other education policy.” 33
Friedman Foundation senior fellow Greg
Forster concurred, adding, “If evidence were going to decide the [D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship] debate, there wouldn’t be a debate any more.”34
There have been more than 200 scientific analyses of the effects on public schools from
expanding choice and competition. A “sizable majority of these studies report beneficial
effects of competition across all outcomes,” according to researchers from Columbia
University Teachers College. These benefits include improved student achievement,
graduation rates, school efficiency, teacher salaries, and smaller class sizes.35
Likewise, in their
analysis of more than 100 scientific studies, SUNY Stony Brook political scientists found
that while not all studies conclude that parental choice raises student achievement, “it is
significant to note that the best ones do, and that [we] did not find any study that documents
any significantly lower performance in choice schools.”36
Neither this body of scholarly evidence nor the latest findings from the D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program, however, have deterred opponents, including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-
IL), Assistant Senate Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government. He is identified as the author
of the provision inserted into the House version of the omnibus spending bill passed in
January ending the program, more than three months before the official program evaluation
was publicly released. The month after its public release in May, Sen. Durbin wrote in the
Washington Post that “the Education Department’s recent report could not show that voucher
students are performing better than their public school counterparts.”37
Elsewhere, Greene
penned a scathing response, “Is He Stupid or Lying?”38
On July 8, 2009, Sen. Durbin inserted language
into his subcommittee’s spending bill requiring
participating private schools to administer the
same tests as the D.C. public schools—even
though those private schools already administer
nationally norm-referenced tests. Moreover, the
public school tests fail to meet No Child Left
Behind standards. Sen. Durbin’s spending bill also
mandates the secretary of education to assess the
quality of all participating Opportunity
Scholarship private schools.39
Such unprecedented
micromanagement of private schools by a
government agency drew opposition from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Sen. Diane
Feinstein (D-CA), among others; however, a motion to prevent Sen. Durbin’s mandates
resulted in a tie so they remain intact.40
The credibility of other opponents is also being called into question, including that of the
country’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association. In March, almost one
month before the program evaluation was publicly released, the NEA sent a letter to
Democratic Members of Congress asserting, “The D.C. voucher pilot program, which is set
to expire this year, has been a failure. Over its five year span, the pilot program has yielded
no evidence of positive impact on student achievement.”41

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“President Obama has signaled
that he is willing to allow the
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program to continue, but only
for current participants.”
In May, NEA representatives refused to participate in a special Senate hearing where the
principal investigator of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program presented the evaluation
team’s findings.42
Then, in June, nearly two months after the evaluation’s findings were
released, the NEA reiterated its March claim—verbatim—in a letter to U.S. Senators stating
that “the D.C. voucher pilot program, which is set to expire this year, has been a failure. In
fact, over its five year span, the pilot program has yielded no evidence of positive impact on
student achievement.”43
Such deception is being blasted by both top education researchers
and leading media outlets, who now say the NEA has lost virtually all credibility in serious
education reform policy debates.44
The results of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program corroborate a substantial and
growing body of empirical evidence that shows students and public schools benefit from
school choice, contrary to the claims repeated by special-interest groups and some elected
officials.45
Such corroboration only adds fuel to growing outrage over efforts to end the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship—in spite of the President’s pledge that education reform during
his administration would be guided by a “whether-it-works” principle.
Current Status of the Program
President Obama has signaled that he is willing to allow the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program to continue, but only for current participants. No new students could apply. As it
stands now, the program will end after the 2009-10 school year unless Congress acts.
Supporters of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program contend that it should be judged
on the evidence. They also note that if D.C. public schools were actually performing,
students would not need alternatives in
the first place.
But as students like Ronald Holassie,
who attends Archbishop Carroll High
School using an Opportunity
Scholarship, know, D.C. public schools
fail on that measure. During the recent
“Preserving School Choice for All”
hearing in the Senate Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Ronald responded to the defense of the D.C.
public school system by Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) with a simple question: “Public schools
did not get bad over night, and they’re not going to get better over night. So why not have
the Opportunity Scholarship [Program], which will give children... a high quality education
they can’t receive right now?”46
Indeed, even those fully committed to improving the D.C. public school system know that
change will take time and recognize the consequences of continuing to keep students in
failing schools.
Last year, for example, Chancellor Michelle Rhee testified about efforts to close the
achievement gaps in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). She described a culture
“driven more by politics and adult concerns than by the needs of children,” and that the
leading objection she encounters to reform is that efforts are moving too quickly. “But our

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“Even Education Secretary
Arne Duncan admitted
recently that the D.C. public
school system “has had more
money than God for a long
time, but the outcomes are
still disastrous.”
students have been waiting since long before 1954 for a just, challenging, and equal system
of public education,” was Chancellor Rhee’s response, adding that as of the 2006-07 school
year:
...only nine percent of our entering freshmen graduate from college within nine years
of beginning high school...one-third of our schools have proficiency rates below 20
percent in either reading or math. In other words, four out of five
students in those schools—about 14,000 children—were not even meeting the most
basic level of proficiency. In a district that is 81 percent African-American, this is
one of the greatest institutionalized injustices imaginable. The old ways of addressing
this longstanding injustice have not been working. No matter how difficult, the
solutions to this problem must be radical and unprecedented.47
Even Education Secretary Arne Duncan admitted recently that the D.C. public school
system “has had more money than God for a long time, but the outcomes are still
disastrous.”48
At around $18,000, D.C. public schools ranked first nationally in total per-
pupil spending for the 2005-06 school year, the most recent year data are available from the
U.S. Department of Education and the Census Bureau. In 2009 dollars, that works out to
$19,710.49
Current data indicate spending could
be significantly higher.
The District now spends $1.3 billion on K-12
education, according to budget figures obtained
by Andrew Coulson, director of the Cato
Institute Center for Educational Freedom.50
In
March, a public school official informed him
that enrollment was nearly 49,000 students, for
an average per-pupil expenditure of more than
$26,000. In June, however, District officials
released a lower, revised enrollment figure of
almost 45,000 students. If that figure includes
the 2,400 special education students placed in private schools by the District, per-pupil
expenditures amount to $27,400.51
If not, then D.C. public schools’ average spending
amounts to almost $29,000 per-pupil—$6,000 greater than the average Opportunity
Scholarship student’s entire annual family income.52
In its latest evaluation, D.C. public school officials report that “less than 15 percent of our
students met nationally recognized standards of proficiency in reading and mathematics,
placing them last in the nation. Just over half of our students graduate from high school.”53
More than two out of three D.C. public schools are failing, and data from the U.S.
Department of Education also indicate that the D.C. public school system is one of the most
dangerous nationwide.54
Thus, public schools in the nation’s capital rank first in spending and worst in achievement.
Against this backdrop, elected officials in D.C. have publicly stated their intention to
evaluate the Opportunity Scholarship Program based on findings from required annual
program evaluations. The actions of some officials, however, have sparked growing local and

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national controversy over what is increasingly considered a politicized campaign to end the
program, as the timeline illustrates:55
January 15, 2009: President-elect Obama publishes an open letter to his daughters
explaining, “In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you
and for every child in this nation. I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their
potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder
about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their
parents aren’t rich.”56
February 25, 2009: The $410 billion omnibus spending bill is passed by the House of
Representatives. A provision inserted by House Democrats requires it be approved by the
D.C. City Council and Congress before it will be reauthorized.57
The author of that provision
is later identified as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who sent his children to private schools.58
However reasonable this requirement sounds on the surface, this provision is the result of
partisan efforts beginning last summer to end the program. In June 2008, Delegate Eleanor
Holmes Norton (D-DC) began planning “to phase out the…D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program,” instructing Opportunity Scholarship officials that “the program would be killed
by Congress” and that it was “on its last legs,” so “it was important to start telling families
that the vouchers would not be continued indefinitely.”59
In his statement accompanying the
omnibus spending bill, Appropriations Chairman Rep. David R. Obey (D-WI) did just that
by instructing D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to “promptly take steps to
minimize potential disruption and ensure smooth transition” for Opportunity Scholarship
students who will have to return to public schools.60
No reauthorization hearing had been
scheduled at that time, and the public release of the official program evaluation is not due
for nearly two months.
March 4, 2009. Commenting on the status of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,
Education Secretary Arne Duncan tells reporters, “I don’t think it makes sense to take kids
out of a school where they’re happy and safe and satisfied and learning...I think those kids
need to stay in their school.” Secretary Duncan, however, reaffirmed his opposition to
vouchers, stating, “I don’t think vouchers ultimately are the answer...We need to be more
ambitious. The goal shouldn’t be to save a handful of children. The goal should be to
dramatically change the opportunity structure for entire neighborhoods of kids.”61
Nearly 20
years ago, then-Mayor Marion Barry reacted similarly to a modest school choice proposal,
declaring, “Nobody ought to mess with our public schools.” At that time, D.C. public
schools superintendent Floretta D. McKenzie also spoke of “a mandate for continued
improvement of the D.C. public schools.”62
Secretary Duncan will repeat his goal of
dramatic change numerous times over the next several months, prompting responses such as
this one from Cato Institute Executive Director David Boaz: “Duncan says that he wants to
‘help all those kids . . . by . . . coming back with dramatically better schools.’ But he ran the
Chicago schools for seven years, and he was not able to make a single school good enough
for Barack and Michelle Obama to send their own children there.”63
March 5, 2009: Dennis Van Roekel, president of the country’s largest teachers union, the
National Education Association, issues a letter about the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program to “the Democrats in the House and Senate” stating: “We expect that Members of

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Congress who support public education, and whom we have supported, will stand firm
against any proposal to extend the pilot program. Actions associated with these issues WILL
be included in the NEA Legislative Report Card for the 111th Congress.”64
(original
emphasis)
March 10, 2009: President Obama delivers his first major address on education before the
U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “Our basic premise is that the status quo and political
constituencies can no longer determine how we proceed on public education reform in this
country,” declared Obama. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, he continued, “will use
only one test when deciding what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars: It’s not
whether an idea is liberal or conservative, but whether it works.”65
March 10, 2009: Later that same day, the Senate joins the House in ending the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program in the summer of 2010. Before passing the $410 billion
omnibus spending bill, the Senate voted down an amendment by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
that would have removed the provision inserted by House Democrats, authored by Sen.
Dick Durbin (D-IL), requiring reauthorization of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program, effectively ending the program in the summer of 2010.66
Sen. Ensign pointed to a
poster-size picture of two scholarship students attending Sidwell Friends School, where
President Obama sends his daughters. “We’re talking about real children here,” Sen. Ensign
said before his amendment was struck down. Sen. Durbin replied that the reauthorization
requirement is routine procedure.67
Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) countered that House
Appropriations Chairman Rep. David R. Obey’s (D-WI) directive suggesting that “students
in the program should begin to pack their bags,” is anything but routine.68
Sen. Lieberman
also noted that unauthorized appropriations in recent years totaled as much as $170 billion.
“Why then,” asked Lieberman, “are we singling out the $14 million dedicated to provide
school choice to low-income students in the District of Columbia?”69
He added, “As
Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee I am committed
to holding hearings this spring that will allow us to fairly evaluate the voucher program.”70
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) voted against the amendment, but reiterated her support for
the program, stating, “I have supported the pilot program that provides vouchers on a pilot
basis in Washington, D.C., since its inception five years ago. I believe I was the deciding
vote.” She added:
So far, [the] preliminary evaluation...has shown some academic gains in reading and
math. When these students entered the program, they were performing in the
bottom third in reading and math tests in D.C.'s public schools. Last year's
evaluation...showed that the reading test scores of ...88 percent of students receiving
a scholarship were higher by the equivalent of two to four months of additional
schooling...I am prepared to continue to support this if the comprehensive
evaluation, due this spring, shows that the program has value and students are
improving...I believe the debate over the D.C. Voucher Program is an important one.
It is a valid one, and we should discuss it and debate it on this floor. But this bill is
not the place to do it. If I were to vote yes and others were to vote yes, it would kill
this [omnibus spending] bill, and we all know that. Simply stated, the House will not
accept it. So I believe the debate is for another time. I regretfully will have to vote no
on this amendment.71

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March 11, 2009: One day after his “whether-it-works” pledge, and three weeks prior to the
public release of the program evaluation, President Obama signs the $410 billion dollar
omnibus spending bill with the Durbin Amendment ending the D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program after the 2009-10 school year. White House Press Secretary Robert
Gibbs indicated the president may want to salvage the program—but only for students
currently receiving Opportunity Scholarships. “It wouldn't make sense to disrupt the
education of those that are in that system,” Gibbs explained.72
He reiterated the president’s
position that vouchers are not a long-term solution.73
Gibbs offered no official explanation
about the disruptive effects to the roughly 45,000 other District of Columbia Public School
students who must now remain in unsafe schools where less than two of every 10 children is
functionally literate in reading and math, and around half drop out.74
Reason Foundation
education policy director Lisa Snell observes, “Right now the president’s education plan is
rife with inconsistencies. He is willing to spend more on Pell Grants (vouchers) for adults to
attend college, but opposes them for children.”75
April 2, 2009: Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) joined by five Republican House
leaders urge Secretary of Education Arne Duncan not to withhold scholarship funds for the
2009-2010 school year. “At a time when our Nation is facing an economic recession and
families are making financial sacrifices,” they write, “we should not eliminate educational
opportunities for D.C. low-income families. Every child deserves a chance to succeed and to
achieve the American dream.”76
April 3, 2009: The anticipated evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship was publicly
released with little fanfare late on a Friday. In a meeting with Washington Post editors and
reporters prior to the release Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared, “Big picture, I
don’t see vouchers as being the answer.”77
Yet the evaluation found that overall students
using Opportunity Scholarships now perform a half grade ahead of their public school
counterparts in reading. Students using them longer perform more than two grades ahead in
reading.78
Secretary Duncan’s official response that “these results do not warrant
continuation of the program” sparks a national controversy.79
The Washington Post, for
example, fired back:
The ink was barely dry on the latest study of D.C. school vouchers when Education
Secretary Arne Duncan announced that he is ready to pull the plug on the
program...We had hoped that Mr. Duncan, who prides himself in being a pragmatist
interested in programs that work, would have a more open mind...it’s perplexing that
Mr. Duncan, without any further discussion or analysis, would be so quick to kill a
program that is supported by local officials and that has proven popular with
parents. Unless, of course, politics enters the calculation in the form of Democratic
allies in Congress who have been shameless in their efforts to kill vouchers.80
Charges of foul play intensify when it is revealed that a team of Education Department
advisors received preliminary results in November 2008.81
Those charges prompted
subsequent demands for an explanation from Secretary Duncan.82
Grover J. “Russ”
Whitehurst, program evaluator and former director of the U.S. Department of Education’s
Institute of Education Sciences (IES), denied that Secretary Duncan “sat on the evidence or
was willfully ignorant of it.” Yet Whitehurst criticized Duncan’s handling of the evaluation

1
release, stating, “There is, however, substantial reason to believe that the secretary didn’t
want to draw attention to the report,” explaining that:
It was released on a Friday, whereas IES stopped releasing reports on Fridays several
years ago when an important report just happened to come out on that day and
critics accused the agency of trying to bury it. And there was no department press
release or press briefing, which typically occur for important reports, including
previous annual reports from this evaluation.83
April 6, 2009: Education Secretary Arne Duncan issues a letter from the U.S. Department
of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement rescinding scholarships to children
from 200 families.84
His rationale is that it is not in students’ best interest to enroll them in a
program that may not exist next year. Duncan also explains that the “recent evaluation
results do not warrant continuation of the program as a long-term solution to the problems
of D.C. Public Schools.”85
However, addressing the immediate needs of low-income parents,
not the problems of the public schools, is the express purpose of the Act establishing the
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.86
Secretary Duncan’s “presumed dead” strategy is
derided in the press and fuels skepticism that special-interest politics, not educational
evidence, is driving the fate of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, especially since
the Senate had not yet had a chance to hold hearings on the results of the official program
evaluation.87
In July, a majority of the D.C. City Council petitioned Duncan to reconsider.88
April 10, 2009: Education Secretary Arne Duncan tells Science magazine that his daughter
“goes to Arlington [Virginia] public schools. That was why we chose where we live, it was
the determining factor. That was the most important thing to me. My family has given up so
much so that I could have the opportunity to serve; I didn't want to try to save the country’s
children and our educational system and jeopardize my own children’s education.”89
April 21, 2009: Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), Chairman and
Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,
write to Education Secretary Arne Duncan: “By preventing new scholarships from being
awarded, you are effectively ending a program before Congress has had the opportunity to
consider reauthorizing it. Therefore, we respectfully request that you consider reversing your
decision.”90
April 22, 2009: An editorial by Education Secretary Arne Duncan entitled “School Reform
Means Doing What’s Best for Kids” is published in the Wall Street Journal. In it Duncan calls
for an “honest assessment of key issues.” Duncan notes that parents of children in failing
schools want “effective options...charters, non-charters or some other model.” He adds,
“For the first time in decades we...have national teacher-union leaders more committed to
change than ever before...The only open question is whether or not we have the collective
political will to... [pursue] what works best for kids, regardless of ideology.” Secretary
Duncan fails to mention the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.91
April 29, 2009: A bi-partisan coalition of 14 Senators sends a letter to Education Secretary
Duncan urging him not to end the Opportunity Scholarship Program for new students. They
remind him that the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
plans to hold a hearing to review the evaluation’s findings. It also stated that Senator

1
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had promised time for a full floor debate of the
program’s reauthorization.92
April 29, 2009: That same day, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking
Member Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) stated in a letter to Duncan, “I am puzzled by the timing
of the release of the positive OSP [Opportunity Scholarship Program] evaluation; just three
weeks after Congress de facto killed the program on March 11. It is highly possible that
Congress might not have terminated the OSP if my colleagues, not to mention the White
House, had known that this positive evaluation was about to be issued.” Rep. Issa also
requests a timeline of who knew what and when.93
May 6, 2009: More than 2,000 D.C. parents, students, and local elected officials rallied in
Freedom Plaza before hand-delivering a petition to D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty with more
than 7,000 signatures from District residents who want the program continued.94
As former
D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams later testified before a special Senate committee hearing on
the Opportunity Scholarship Program, “These families presented a petition with over 7,400
signatures – all D.C. residents who not only support the program, but want it reauthorized
and strengthened. What is a better measure of success than the desire of parents?”95
May 6, 2009: Later that day, an anonymous administration official tells the press that the
president wants to set aside $12.2 million for the 2010-11 school year so the more than 1,700
current Opportunity Scholarship students can finish their education at their chosen private
schools. No new students, however, will be admitted to the program. The following day the
president releases his official proposal in the fiscal year 2010 budget.96
Over the next several
weeks, three of the country’s top five newspapers editorialize in support of the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program: USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington
Post, with a combined circulation of more than five million readers. President Obama and
Education Secretary Duncan’s home-town paper and U.S. top 10 daily, the Chicago Tribune,
also writes in support of the program.97
May 13, 2009: As promised, Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME),
convene “The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All”
hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.98
Principal program investigator Patrick J. Wolf testified that “of the 11 other federal
education programs evaluated, only three produced statistically significant improvements
akin to what the voucher program has produced.” Wolfe added that “a typical student who
entered the program in kindergarten would, by the time of graduation from high school, be
reading 2 1/2 years ahead of peers who didn't receive scholarships.” Following compelling
testimony from D.C. opportunity Scholarship students, Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL) asks
Chairman Lieberman, “Where are all the public school [representatives]?” Sen. Lieberman
explains D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and
representatives from the two teachers unions, the National Education Association and the
American Federation of Teachers, were invited to testify. They were, however,
conspicuously absent from the hearing.99
Sen. Lieberman later observed, “There are some
powerful forces allied against this program. . . We happen to have the facts on our side. We
also have justice on our side.”100

1
“This program is popular,
effective, and has made a
difference for thousands of
low-income children in our
nation’s capital for the last five
years. Ending it at the behest
of powerful special interests
would be shameful.”
Bi-Partisan, Bi-Cameral Efforts to Continue the Program
On May 21, 2009, the Preserving D.C. Student Scholarships Act of 2009 was introduced in
the House by Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH), Oversight & Government Reform
Committee Ranking Republican Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ranking Member on the House Armed
Services Committee Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), and Ranking Republican on the
Education and Labor Committee at the time, to expand opportunities for low-income D.C.
children to attend high-quality schools.101
Similar to the current program, priority for
awarding scholarships is given to students in failing schools and those from low-income
families. Scholarships can be used for tuition, fees, and transportation. Scholarships would
be worth up to $8,000 for K-8 students and up to $12,000 for high school students. Those
amounts would be annually adjusted for
inflation, and $14 million would be
appropriated for scholarships for each of
the next five fiscal years beginning in 2010.
“This program is popular, effective, and has
made a difference for thousands of low-
income children in our nation’s capital for
the last five years. Ending it at the behest of
powerful special interests would be
shameful,” said bill sponsor House
Republican Leader John Boehner
(R-OH).102
Bill co-sponsor Committee on
Oversight and Government Reform
Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) agreed, noting that the “reasons to continue funding
the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program are convincing. It’s working for students and it’s
wanted by parents. . . Choice of schools shouldn’t be limited to those who are fortunate
enough to come from an affluent family – every child deserves the chance to unlock their
limitless potential.”103
“Allowing the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program to be eliminated
would be a grave injustice to the children in the program and to the many more who hope to
one day benefit from it as well,” added co-sponsor Rep. McKeon (R-CA).104
At the time of publication, bi-partisan talks are nearly completed on a Senate bill to continue
the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.105
Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Collins have also
sent a letter to Majority Leader Reid urging him to place the bill on the Senate Calendar once
it is introduced since the Committee has already held hearings on the issue.106
Conclusion
The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program is a proven success in improving student
achievement and providing low-income students with a low-cost alternative to the D.C.
public schools, one of the country’s most expensive, dysfunctional, and dangerous schooling
systems.
Applying the same standards Education Secretary Arne Duncan used to end the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program, the District’s public school system should be shut down;
not the successful scholarship program that parents want and students desperately need.

1
There is no good policy reason to discontinue the scholarship program, but apparently
political reasons abound. By playing politics with needy children, as liberal commentator
Juan Williams put it, President Obama and Secretary Duncan say a great deal about
themselves.
During the Clinton Administration, Wisconsin choice advocate and state Representative
Annette Polly Williams (D-Milwaukee) quipped, “The president shouldn’t be the only person
who lives in public housing who gets to send his kids to private schools.”107
Washington,
D.C., and all state governments, should establish full educational choice for all as a matter of
basic civil rights. That will happen in due time, but if recent events are any indication, equal
educational opportunity will happen in spite of this administration, not because of it.
About the authors:
Vicki E. Murray, Ph.D., is Independent Women’s Forum Senior Fellow and Women for School Choice
Project Director. She is also Education Studies Associate Director at the Pacific Research Institute in
Sacramento, California. Evelyn B. Stacey is PRI Education Studies Policy Fellow.
Endnotes:
1
Daphne Retter, “Sorrow of Last D.C. Voucher Grads,” New York Post, June 4, 2009,
http://www.nypost.com/seven/06042009/news/nationalnews/sorrow_of_last_D.C._vouch
er_grads_172542.htm; and Laura Pohl, “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program graduation,” Flypaper
blog, Thomas B. Fordham Institute, June 4, 2009,
http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/index.php/2009/06/D.C.-opportunity-scholarship-
program-graduation/. For additional testimonials from students participating in the program, see Voices
of School Choice, http://www.voicesofschoolchoice.org/home.aspx; and “Lieberman, Collins
Vow Fight for Educational Opportunity for Low-Income Students,” May 13, 2009, press release from the
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&Affiliation=
C&PressRelease_id=51033970-a4a1-4632-b008-690c85a8c833&Month=5&Year=2009.
2
Juan Williams, “Obama’s Outrageous Sin against Our Kids,” Fox Forum, April 20, 2009,
http://foxforum.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/04/20/williams_obama_D.C./; and ACE
Fellowship, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program FAQ,
http://acefellowship.wordpress.com/parental-choice-10/D.C.-osp-faq/.
3
“Democrats and Poor Kids,” Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897492702491091.html; and Williams, “Obama’s
Outrageous Sin,” April 20, 2009. See also Jay P. Greene, “D.C. Voucher Buzz,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog,
April 6, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/06/D.C.-voucher-buzz/; and “More D.C. Voucher
Buzz,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, April 7, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/07/more-D.C.-voucher-buzz/.
4
Clint Bolick, “School Choice Struggles On,” National Review, October 11, 2004, available
through the Center for Education Reform,
http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=document&documentID=1872&sectio
nID=58; cf. David Boaz, “School Choice in D.C.: Does Obama Care as Much as Bartlet?”
Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, March 2, 2009, http://www.cato-at-
liberty.org/2009/03/02/school-choice-in-D.C.-does-obama-care-as-much-as-bartlet/; and

1
The West Wing, episode originally aired February 25, 2004,
http://www.westwingepguide.com/S5/Episodes/105_FD.html
5
S. 1502, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s105-1502; cf. H.R. 1797 introduced by
Rep. Richard Armey (R-TX), http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h105-1797; and S. 847
introduced in the previous session, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s105-847.
6
H.R. 5033, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h107-5033; and S. 2866,
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s107-2866.
7
H.R. 684, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h108-684.
8
S. 4, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s108-4.
9
Dianne Feinstein, “Let D.C. try Vouchers”, Washington Post, July 22, 2003,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A26038-2003Jul21; cf. “Statement of Senator
Dianne Feinstein: Mayor Williams’ Voucher Program Deserves a Chance to Succeed,” Congressional
Record, Vol. 49. No. 133, September 25, 2003,
http://feinstein.senate.gov/03Speeches/vouchers%209%2025.htm; and “Growing Bi-Partisan
Support for School Choice in D.C.,” letter to Members of Congress signed by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA),
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Rep. William Lipinski (D-IL), n.d.,
http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/archive/issues/108th/education/parentalchoice/D.C.
SchoolChoiceDearColl1.pdf.
10
The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, authorized by the District of Columbia School
Choice Incentive Act of 2003, passed by Congress on January 24, 2004, as part of the Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2004, Public Law 108-199 (Title III of Division C of the Act). See “D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All,” statement of Sen. Joe Lieberman
(ID-CT), Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” May 13, 2009, p. 3,
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/051309JILOpen.pdf. See also the U.S. Department of
Education, District of Columbia School Choice Incentive Program,
http://www.ed.gov/programs/D.C.choice/index.html; and H.R. 2673, Consolidated
Appropriations Act of 2004, Title III D.C. School Choice Incentive Act, Library of Congress,
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h108-2673; and the U.S. Department of
Education, http://www.ed.gov/programs/D.C.choice/legislation.html.
11
The federal poverty limit was $18,850 for a family of four. Multiplied by 185 percent (1.85) is
$34,872.5. See U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2004 Poverty Guidelines,
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/04poverty.shtml.
12
Thomas Stewart, Patrick Wolf, Stephen Q. Cornman, Kenann McKenzie-Thompson, and
Jonathan Butcher, Family Reflections on the District of Columbia Opportunity Scholarship
Program, School Choice Demonstration Project, Department of Education Reform, University of Arkansas,
January 2009, pp. 44-45, http://www.uaedreform.org/SCDP/D.C._Research/2009_Final.pdf.
13
Dan Lips, “D.C. School Choice Eligibility Expansion Receives Bipartisan Support in Congress,”
School Reform News, October 2006,
http://www.heartland.org/publications/school%20reform/article/19779/D.C._School_Cho
ice_Eligibility_Expansion_Receives_Bipartisan_Support_in_Congress.html.
14
“Brownback Applauds Passage of H.R. 6111,” December 12, 2006, press release from the office
of Senator Sam Brownback, http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=266873; and
Lindsey Burke, “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Study Supports Expansion,” Heritage Foundation,
WebMemo #2297, February 18, 2009,
http://www.heritage.org/research/education/wm2297.cfm.
15
University of Arkansas, Department of Education Reform, Washington, D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program Research, http://www.uaedreform.org/SCDP/D.C._Research.html.
16
Washington Scholarship Fund, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (D.C. OSP),
http://www.washingtonscholarshipfund.org/programs/index.html.

1
17
In fiscal year 2009, Congress appropriated $14 million for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program. Under President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 budget, $12 million is appropriated for the program.
On July 8, 2009, the 2010 Financial Services, General Government Appropriations Bill provided $13.2
million for the program. See Patrick Wolf, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Brian Kisida, Lou Rizzo,
Nada Eissa, and Marsha Silverberg, Evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts
After Three Years, Institute for Educational Sciences, US Department of Education, March 2009, p. 2,
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20094050/; and Washington Scholarship Fund, “WSF’s Overview,”
http://www.washingtonscholarshipfund.org/news/news/WSF_overview.pdf.;
Senate Report 110-417 - FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT
APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2009, July 14, 2008, pp. 64-65, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-
bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_reports&docid=f:sr417.110.pdf. Summary available at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp110lu7qS&refer=&r_n=sr417.110&db_id=110&item=&sel=TOC_
188564&; Vincent Gray, D.C. City Council Chairman, testimony on April 30, 2008, to the Committee on
Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, available from D.C.
Children First, http://www.D.C.childrenfirst.org/website/article.asp?id=44; “Statement of
Senator Susan M. Collins D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, May 13, 2009, p. 3,
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/051309SMCOpen.pdf; Shailagh Murray, “Obama Offers
D.C. Voucher Program Extension for Existing Students,” Washington Post, May 6, 2009,
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/05/06/obama_proposes_extending_D.C._vo.ht
ml; and “Durbin Unveils 2010 Financial Services, General Government Appropriations Bill,” July 8, 2009,
Press Release from the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin,
http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=315474; cf. pp. 52-54 of the full text of S.B.1432 is
available on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
website, http://appropriations.senate.gov/financialservices.cfm.
18
Maria Glod, “Study Supports School Vouchers,” Washington Post, April 4, 2009,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040302987.html.
19
Wolf, et al., Impacts After Three Years, March 2009, pp. 1, 14-15. See also, Andrew J. Coulson,
“D.C. Vouchers: Better Results at a QUARTER the Cost,” Cato@ Liberty.org, Cato Institute, April 3,
2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/04/03/D.C.-vouchers-better-results-at-a-quarter-
the-cost/.
20
Wolf, et al., Impacts After Three Years, pp. xvii-xviii, xix, 35-36, and 41. For previous annual
evaluations and reports, see the Washington Scholarship Fund, “Reports & Other Materials,”
http://www.washingtonscholarshipfund.org/news/news_reports.html; and Burke, “Study
Supports Expansion,” February 18, 2009.
21
Wolf, et al., Impacts After Three Years, pp. xvii, xxx, 42, 44, 46-47, and 51.
22
Former Mayor Anthony Williams, then D.C. City Council Member and Education Committee
Chair Kevin P. Chavous, and then President of the D.C. Board of Education, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, worked
with the Bush Administration to implement the funding plan. See “Statement of Anthony A. Williams,
Former Mayor of Washington D.C. and Chairman of D.C. Children First before the Committee on
Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” United States Senate, Hearing on the D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program, May 13, 2009, http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/051309Williams.pdf.
23
Quoted in “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All,” statement
of Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs,
May 13, 2009, p. 3, http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/051309JILOpen.pdf.
24
Anthony A. Williams and Kevin P. Chavous, “Education, By Any Means,” Washington Post,
April 14, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/04/13/AR2009041302027.html.

1
25
Senate Report 110-417 - FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT
APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2009, July 14, 2008, pp. 64-65, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-
bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_reports&docid=f:sr417.110.pdf. Summary available at:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-
bin/cpquery/?&sid=cp110lu7qS&refer=&r_n=sr417.110&db_id=110&item=&sel=TOC_
188564&; and Vincent Gray, D.C. City Council Chairman, testimony on April 30, 2008, to the
Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, available
from D.C. Children First, http://www.D.C.childrenfirst.org/website/article.asp?id=44. See also
“The Politics of Education,” chapter 5 of Kevin P. Chavous, Serving Our Children: Charter School And
The Reform Of American Public Education (Herndon, VA: Capital Books, 2004), especially pp. 73-75.
26
“Statement of Senator Susan M. Collins D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” p. 3. See also
Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), “An Opportunity That Works for D.C. Schoolchildren,” Washington Post,
June 21, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
27
See pp. 52-53 of S.B.1432, available on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services
and General Government website, http://appropriations.senate.gov/financialservices.cfm.
28
“School Choice for the Few: The new do-as-I-say double standard,” Wall Street Journal, May 5,
2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124147923132785121.html; Glod, “Study Supports
School Vouchers,” April 4, 2009. See also “What Works for Teachers Unions,” Morning Bell, The
Heritage Foundation, April 14, 2009, http://blog.heritage.org/2009/04/14/morning-bell-what-
works-for-teachers-unions/; Lindsey Burke, “How Members of the 111th Congress Practice Private
School Choice,” Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2257, April 20, 2009,
http://www.heritage.org/research/education/bg2257.cfm; cf. Vicki E. Murray, “Hypocrisy in
High Places,” Inkwell Blog, Independent Women’s Forum, May 13, 2009,
http://www.iwf.org/inkwell/show/21483.html.
29
Lieberman, “An Opportunity That Works for D.C. Schoolchildren,” June 21, 2009.
30
“Democrats and Poor Kids,” Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897492702491091.html; and Williams, “Obama’s
Outrageous Sin,” April 20, 2009. See also Jay P. Greene, “D.C. Voucher Buzz,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog,
April 6, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/06/D.C.-voucher-buzz/; and “More D.C. Voucher
Buzz,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, April 7, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/07/more-D.C.-
voucher-buzz/.
31
Alliance for School Choice, “Top Researchers: Evidence Points to School Voucher
Effectiveness,” May 28, 2009, event sponsored by The Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Greater
Washington Urban League, and the Alliance for School Choice at the National Press Club,
http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/MediaCenter/PressReleases/index.cfm?ID=3564
&TYPE=1157.
32
Alliance for School Choice, “Top Researchers,” May 28, 2009, event.
33
Quotation from Alliance for School Choice, “Top Researchers,” May 28, 2009, event. On June
30, 2009, Indiana adopted a tax credit scholarship program, bringint his total to 19 programs in 12 states.
For summaries of school choice research, see Jay P. Greene, “Is School Choice Enough?” City
Journal, Winter 2008, http://www.city-journal.org/2008/forum0124.html; “Systemic Effects of
Vouchers,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, updated April 27, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/27/systemic-effects-of-vouchers-updated-42709/; “Voucher
Effects on Participants,” August 21, 2008, Jay P. Greene’s Blog,
http://jaypgreene.com/2008/08/21/voucher-effects-on-participants/; “A Modest Proposal
for B.B.,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, August 18, 2008, http://jaypgreene.com/2008/08/18/a-modest-

1
proposal-for-bb/; U.S. Department of Education, “D.C. School Choice Opportunity Scholarships
Expand Options for Families,” June 2008,
http://www.ed.gov/programs/D.C.choice/factsheet.html; Patrick J. Wolf, “School Voucher
Programs: What the Research Says About Parental School Choice,” BYU Law Review, Volume 8 2008, pp.
415-446, http://lawreview.byu.edu/archives/2008_2.htm; and “The Inconclusive Research Myth,”
chapter 13 of Jay P. Greene, Education Myths: What Special Interest Groups Want you to Believe about
Our Schools—And Why it Isn’t So (New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.: 2005), pp. 147-156.
34
Greg Forster, “Empty Promises on School Vouchers,” Pajamas Media, April 12, 2009,
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/empty-promises-on-school-vouchers/. See also Jay P. Greene,
“Vouchers: Not Dead Yet: President Obama has all the evidence he needs to save the D.C. voucher
program,” National Review Online, April 8, 2009,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODU4YjMxYTA0ZmY2N2NmYTU2YTYyMTI1Z
GQyMTU3ZjI=; and Robert Maranto, “Congressional Democrats' War on Science,”
FrontPageMagazine.com, April 14, 2009,
http://frontpagemagazine.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=34800.
35
Clive R. Belfield and Henry M. Levin, “The Effects of Competition Between Schools on
Educational Outcomes: A Review for the United States,” Review of Educational Research, Vol. 72, No. 2,
279-341 (2002), http://rer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/72/2/279; cf. Jay P. Greene,
“Systemic Effects of Vouchers,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, updated April 27, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/27/systemic-effects-of-vouchers-updated-42709/.
36
Paul Teske and Mark Schneider, “What Research Can Tell Policy Makers about School Choice,”
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (Fall 2001), pp. 609–631; quotation from p. 619,
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/85513798/abstract.
37
Sen. Dick Durbin , “Topic A: Obama’s Compromise on D.C.’s School Vouchers Program,”
Washington Post, May 10, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/05/08/AR2009050803546.html?hpid=opinionsbox1.
38
Jay P. Greene, “Is He Stupid or Lying?” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, May 9, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/05/09/is-he-stupid-or-lying/. Sen. Durbin back-tracked somewhat in
his editorial, “Opposing view: Voucher program flops,” USA Today, May 19, 2009,
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/05/voucher-program-flops.html.
39
Emily Belz, “More government,” World Magazine, July 10, 2009,
http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/15636.
40
Belz, “More government,” July 10, 2009. See also, “Durbin Unveils 2010 Financial Services, General
Government Appropriations Bill,” July 8, 2009, Press Release from the Office of U.S. Senator Dick
Durbin, http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=315474; pp. 52-54 of S.B.1432, available on
the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government website,
http://appropriations.senate.gov/financialservices.cfm; and Jay P. Greene, “DC Vouchers: One Step Up,
Two Steps Back,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, July 13, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/07/13/dc-vouchers-
one-step-up-two-steps-back/.
41
Dennis Van Roekel, “Letter to the Democrats in the House and Senate on D.C. Vouchers,”
National Education Association, March 5, 2009, http://www.nea.org/home/30906.htm..
42
The NEA did submit a letter. See National Education Association, “Statement to Congress on
D.C. Vouchers,” submitted by the NEA to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, May 13, 2009, http://www.nea.org/home/32091.htm#34.
43
Diane Shust, Director of Government Relations, and Randall Moody, Manager of Federal
Advocacy, on behalf of the National Education Association, “Letter to the Senate Armed Services
Committee Opposing Reported Proposals to Provide Vouchers for Military Families,” June 11, 2009,
http://www.nea.org/home/32662.htm.
44
See, for example, Greg Forster, “The Lie Seems to be Spreading,” June 15, 2009, Jay P. Greene’s
Blog, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/06/15/the-lie-seems-to-be-spreading/; Wall Street Journal,

2
“The NEA's Latest Trick,” June 19, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124536836839329429.html; Jay P. Greene, “No News—NEA
Lies,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, June 20, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/06/20/no-news-nea-lies/; Jay P. Greene, “Teacher Unions =
The Tobacco Institute,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, June 22, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/06/22/teacher-unions-the-tobacco-institute/; Andrew J. Coulson,
“NEA to Dems: HEY! We Paid Good Money for You!!!” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, March 19,
2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/author/acoulson/page/2/; and “The Golden Boy and the
Blob,” The Economist, May 7, 2009,
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13610905.
45
See Van Roekel, “Letter to the Democrats,” March 5, 2009; Shust and Moody, “Letter to the
Senate Armed Services Committee Opposing Reported Proposals to Provide Vouchers for Military
Families,” June 11, 2009. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told the National Press Club, “I've been very,
very clear that I don’t think vouchers work.” See Michael O’Brien, “Education Sec. Duncan: Vouchers
don't work,” The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room, May 29, 2009,
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/05/29/education-sec-duncan-vouchers-dont-work/;
cf. “Don’t Pull the Plug Yet,” Washington Post editorial, April 4, 2009,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
46
Video of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing,
“The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All,” May 13, 2009, (beginning
at 101.28 minutes; cf. Sen. Burris’ remarks, 96.45 to 101.15 minutes),
http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Hearings.Detail&HearingID=0358f
c7c-ce9e-4008-b0d0-f0131a10D.C.43.
47
“Mayor and Superintendent Partnerships in Education: Closing the Achievement Gap,”
Testimony of Michelle Rhee, [District of Columbia Public Schools] Chancellor, Meeting of the Committee
on Education and Labor, U.S. House of Representatives, July 17, 2008, pp. 2 and 4,
http://www.k12.D.C..us/chancellor/documents/House%20Committee%20on%20Education%20an
d%20Labor_July%2017_FINAL.pdf.
48
Bill Turque and Maria Glod, “Stimulus to Help Retool Education, Duncan Says,” Washington
Post, March 5, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403523.html; cf. Bill Turque, “Correction: D.C. Schools Not
Richer Than God,” Washington Post, March 18, 2009,
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/D.C./2009/03/correction_D.C._schools_not_rich.html.
49
According to the U.S. Department of Education, total spending by D.C. public schools averaged
$17,877 per pupil during the 2005-06 school year based on 59,137 students, which is $19,576 in 2009
dollars. U.S. Census Bureau data for the same school year yield an average per-pupil expenditure of
$18,098 ($1,078,931 in total spending / 59,616 students), which is $19,818 in 2009 dollars. The Census
Bureau also ranks D.C. public schools first in per-pupil revenue for the 2005-06 school year, $18,332. See
table 185 of Thomas D. Snyder, Sally A. Dillow, and Charlene M. Hoffman, Digest of Education Statistics,
2008, National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, March, 2009,
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2009020. The Census Bureau provides the
$18,332 per-pupil figure based on total revenue in table 11 of Public Education Finances, 2006, April 1,
2008, http://www.census.gov/govs/www/school.html however, it does not provide a per-pupil
figure based on total expenditures, only “current” expenditures. This term does not mean a time period. In
education finance “current” expenditures include only day-to-day operational expenditures, and several
categories of spending are excluded such as capital and interest on debt. The data needed to derive the total
per-pupil expenditure is provided in the Census Bureau’s supplemental “State-level” excel tables (tabs 1
and 18), http://www.census.gov/govs/www/school06.html. See also Andrew Coulson, “Census
Bureau Misleads Media,” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, April 8, 2008, http://www.cato-at-
liberty.org/2008/04/08/census-bureau-misleads-media/.

2
50
Coulson’s per-pupil spending figure is $26,555 ($1,291,815,886 / 48,646 students enrolled). See
Andrew J. Coulson, “Vouchers V. District with ‘More Money than God’,” Cato@Liberty.org,
Cato Institute, March 12, 2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/03/06/vouchers-vs-the-
district-with-more-money-than-god/. Coulson excludes more than $190 million in charter school,
child care, infant care, early education, college and workforce readiness, and adult education programs. His
figure does include special education funding. For the 2006-07 school year, there were 8,431 D.C. public
school students enrolled in special education. See Mary Levy, “Per Student Cost Figures for the District of
Columbia Public School System,” Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights & Urban Affairs,
November 2007, p. 4, http://www.21csf.org/csf-home/DocUploads/DataShop/DS_86.pdf.
51
Andrew Coulson, “I have to Admit, I was Wrong,” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, June 26,
2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/06/26/i-have-to-admit-i-was-wrong/.
52
The enrollment figure of 48,646 reported to Coulson by a D.C. Public Schools official on March
5, 2009, was subsequently revised to 44,681 students, for a revised per-pupil expenditure figure of $28,912
($1,291,815,886 / 48,646 students enrolled). See “Fenty Administration Reaches Agreement with
City Council on D.C.PS Budget,” June 2, 2009, District of Columbia Public Schools Press Release,
http://www.k12.D.C..us/about/budget-SY-2009-2010/documents/D.C.PS-PRESS-
RELEASE-BUDGET-JUNE-2-2009.pdf; and Coulson, “‘More Money Than God’,” March 12,
2009. On scholarship students’ average family income, see Washington Scholarship Fund, D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program,
http://www.washingtonscholarshipfund.org/programs/index.html.
53
District of Columbia Public Schools, The D.C.PS Five-Year Action Plan, April 2009, p. 3,
http://www.k12.D.C..us/strategic-documents.htm#fiveyear.
54
Shanea Watkins and Dan Lips, “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Improving Student
Safety,” Heritage Foundation, WebMemo #2437, May 13, 2009,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/wm2437.cfm; “Our view on improving education:
Despite success, school choice runs into new barriers Obama, Democrats deny D.C. kids option they
exercise themselves,” USA Today, May 19, 2009, http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/05/our-
view-on-improving-education-despite-success-school-choice-runs-into-new-
barriers.html; and Shikha Dalmia, “Obama's Hypocrisy,” Forbes, April 17, 2009,
http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/16/school-voucher-washington-D.C.-teacher-union-
opinions-contributors-obama.html.
55
See, for example, Kara Rowland, “Document shows Dems' voucher plan,” Washington Times,
March 12, 2009, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/12/dems-true-stance-vouchers-
revealed/.
Lisa Snell, “The Inconsistencies in President Obama’s Education Plans,” Out of Control Blog,
Reason Foundation, March 18, 2009, http://reason.org/news/show/1007123.html.
56
President-elect Barack Obama, “’What I Want for You — and Every Child in America’,” January
15, 2009, open letter to his daughters, Parade, January 18, 2009,
http://www.parade.com/export/sites/default/news/2009/01/barack-obama-letter-to-my-
daughters.html; cf. Dan Lips and Lindsey Burke, “Taking School Choice for Granted,” National Review
Online, April 22, 2009,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Nzg3MzdiZjJiM2ZiNDJlNGRmNWE1MDY2NzNk
ZmYwZTM.
57
U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, H.R. 1105, FY 2009 Omnibus
Appropriations Act, http://appropriations.house.gov/FY2009_consolidated.shtml; and
Washington Post Votes Database,
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/bills/h_r_1105/ and
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/111/house/1/votes/86/. See also “Boehner
Condemns Provision Tucked in Democrats’ Secret $410 Billion Spending Bill to Kill D.C. School Choice

2
Program,” press release from the office of Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), February 23, 2009,
http://johnboehner.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=112362; Michael
Neibauer, “House Dems looking to kill vouchers set up roadblock to reauthorization,” Washington D.C.
Examiner, February 24, 2009, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/House-Dems-
looking-to-kill-vouchers-set-up-roadblock-to-reauthorization_02_25-40260012.html;
Voices of School Choice, “Opportunity Scholarship Students’ Message To President Obama,” February 25,
2009, http://www.voicesofschoolchoice.org/Videos.aspx?v=14093077001; Dan Lips and
Robert C. Enlow, “Putting Parents Last in Education,” National Review Online, February 25, 2009,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZDFiZWNmZDQwOTZhN2QyODQ0ODYwODEx
ND.C.5NjgzNzc; “Obama’s School Choice: Democrats want to kill vouchers for 1,700 poor kids,” Wall
Street Journal, February 25, 2009,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123561668718178625.html#printMode; Andrew J. Coulson,
“Who Is Chucking Kids out of the D.C. Voucher Liferaft?” Cato@Liberty.org , Cato Institute, February 25,
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/02/25/who-is-chucking-kids-out-of-the-D.C.-
voucher-liferaft/; Andrew J. Coulson, “Congress’ Sneaky Slap at D.C.’s Kids,” New York Post,
February 26, 2009,
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/02262
009/postopinion/opeD.C.olumnists/congress_sneaky_slap_at_D.C.s_kids_156976.htm;
Timothy P. Carney, “Teachers unions say 'jump,' Congress says ‘how high?’” Washington D.C. Examiner,
February 26, 2009,
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/Teachers-unions-
say-jump-Congress-says-how-high-40384837.html; Matt Welch, “Teachers Unions, Dems,
Croak School Vouchers in D.C.?” Reason Foundation, February 27, 2009,
http://reason.com/blog/show/131927.html. “’Potential’ Disruption? Ending D.C. school vouchers would
dash the best hopes of hundreds of children,” Washington Post, March 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/story/2009/03/02/ST2009030200481.html; John Boehner, “Hope in All the Wrong
Places,” TownHall.com, March 7, 2009,
http://townhall.com/columnists/JohnBoehner/2009/03/07/hope_in_all_the_wrong_places;
and Andrew J. Coulson, “Congress vs. D.C. Kids,” Washington Times, March 12, 2009,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/12/congress-vs-D.C.-kids/.
58
Emily Belz, “Factions fight,” World Magazine, May 7, 2009,
http://www.worldmag.com/webextra/15382; cf. V. Murray, “Hypocrisy in High Places,” May 13,
2009. See also the December 16, 2008, letter to House Democratic leader, from Rep. John Boehner (R-
OH), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), and Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH),
http://johnboehner.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=112362.
59
Quoted from Valerie Strauss and Bill Turque, “Fate of D.C. Voucher Program Darkens,”
Washington Post, June 9, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/06/08/AR2008060802041.html. The reaction to Norton’s plan was
swift. See “Republican Leaders Express Strong Support for District of Columbia Education Package;
Members Join Growing Chorus of Outrage at Reports that Democrats May Seek to Dismantle Successful
D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” June 16, 2008, press release from the office of the House
Committee on Education and Labor,
http://republicans.edlabor.house.gov/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=616; and the June 16, 2006,
letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Roy Blunt (R-MO),
Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA); cf. December 16, 2008, letter to
House Democratic leaders from Rep. Boehner, Rep. Lewis, and Rep. Regula; and National Education
Association, “Statement to Congress on D.C. Vouchers,” May 13, 2009.
60
Washington D.C. Examiner, February 24, 2009,
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/House-Dems-looking-to-kill-vouchers-set-up-roadblock-to-

2
reauthorization_02_25-40260012.html; and “’Potential’ Disruption? Ending D.C. school vouchers would
dash the best hopes of hundreds of children,” Washington Post, March 2, 2009,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/03/02/ST2009030200481.html.
61
Libby Quaid, Associated Press, “U.S. Schools Chief Wants D.C. Kids to Keep Vouchers,” quoted
in ABC News, March 4, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=7009095.
62
Both quotations from Dan Lips and Evan Feinberg, “Improving Education in the Nation’s
Capital: Expanding School Choice,” Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder #2137,
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg2137.cfm#_ftn3.
63
David Boaz, “Can Arne Duncan Fix All the Schools?” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, April 9,
2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/04/09/can-arne-duncan-fix-all-the-schools/. See
also Jay P. Greene, “Duncan Endorses Universal Vouchers (without knowing it),” Jay P. Greene’s Blog,
June 1, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/06/01/duncan-endorses-universal-vouchers-
without-knowing-it/.
64
Van Roekel, “Letter to the Democrats,” March 5, 2009; cf. Coulson, “NEA to Dems: HEY! We
Paid Good Money for You!!!” March 19, 2009. See also “Golden Boy,” The Economist, May 7, 2009;
Coulson, “Congress vs. D.C. Kids,” March 12, 2009; “What Works for Teachers Unions,” Heritage
Foundation, April 14, 2009; and Timothy P. Carney, “Teachers unions say 'jump,' Congress says ‘how
high?’” Washington D.C. Examiner, February 26, 2009,
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/TimothyCarney/Teachers-unions-
say-jump-Congress-says-how-high-40384837.html.
65
New York Times, “President Obama’s Remarks to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,” March
10, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/us/politics/10text-
obama.html?_r=4&pagewanted=1; Scott Wilson, “Obama Says Public Schools Must Improve,”
Washington Post, March 11, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031000146.html; and “Vouchers on the Line,”
Washington Post, March 14, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
66
See amendment introduced by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), Ensign Amendment. No. 615 to H.R.
1105, to remove language restricting the program at U.S. Senate,
http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&se
ssion=1&vote=00094#position. See also Elizabeth Hillgrove, “Senate kills GOP's D.C. vouchers
bid,” Washington Times, March 11, 2009,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/11/senate-kills-gops-D.C.-vouchers-
bid/; John Ensign, “D.C. School Children Take Back Seat to Politics,” Human Events, March 18, 2009,
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31107; and V. Murray, “Hypocrisy in High
Places,” May 13, 2009.
67
Shailagh Murray, “Senate Approves $410 Billion Bill to Fund Federal Government,” Washington
Post, March 11, 2009; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/03/10/AR2009031002653.html; cf. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL),
“Studying and Funding Education Alternatives,” Chicago Tribune, March 13, 2009,
http://durbin.senate.gov/showRelease.cfm?releaseId=309653; and Matthew Ladner, “The
Chicago Tribune on D.C. Vouchers,” April 12, 2009, Jay P. Greene’s Blog,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/12/the-chicago-tribune-on-D.C.-vouchers/.
68
“Lieberman Supports D.C. Scholarship Program,” March 9, 2009, press release from the office
of Sen. Lieberman, http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=309283&&. Referring to a letter
sent by Appropriations Chairman David R. Obey (D-WI) urging D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to
prepare for the smooth transition of Opportunity Scholarship students back to their former public schools
upon the program’s demise. See Neibauer, “House Dems looking to kill vouchers,” February 24, 2009.

2
69
See “Lieberman Supports D.C. Scholarship Program,” March 9, 2009. Compare statements by
Dick Durbin (D-IL), “When the five-year pilot program expires at the end of this school year, Congress
must pass a bill reauthorizing it. That is not Congress doing the bidding of the teachers union; it is
Congress following the law,” quoted from “Voice of the People,” Chicago Tribune, March 13, 2009,
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/mar/13/opinion/chi-0313vplettersbriefsmar13;
and top advisor to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Brendan Daly: “There is no such thing as a
permanent program...Every program needs to be authorized or re-authorized.” Quoted in Susan Ferrechio,
“Democrat inserted provision endangers D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program,” Washington D.C.
Examiner, February 24, 2009, http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Low-income-
school-voucher-program-may-be-cut-by-House-Dems-40200287.html; and Andrew J.
Coulson, “Dems Want D.C. Vouchers Dead. Hope Someone Else Pulls Plug,” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato
Institute, February 24, 2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/02/24/dems-want-D.C.-
vouchers-dead-hope-someone-else-pulls-plug/.
70
“Lieberman Supports D.C. Scholarship Program,” March 9, 2009; Neibauer, “House Dems
looking to kill vouchers,” February 24, 2009; and Coulson, “Who Is Chucking Kids?” February 25, 2009.
71
Remarks of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, “OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2009: United States
Senate, March 9, 2009, Section 11,” Congressional Record,
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=111-s20090309-
11#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002F
mdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm111mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20090309-
11.xmlElementm13m0m0m; cf. Michael Neibauer, “Senate vote means end of D.C. Opportunity
Scholarship Program,” Washington D.C. Examiner, March 11, 2009,
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Senate-vote-means-end-of-school-voucher-
program-41060732.html. See also, Patrick Wolf, Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Brian Kisida, Lou
Rizzo, Nada Eissa, and Marsha Silverberg, Project Officer, Institute of Education Sciences, Evaluation of
the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After Two Years, U.S. Department of Education,
Institute of Education Sciences, June 2008,
http://nces.ed.gov/PUBSEARCH/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20084023; Patrick Wolf,
Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, Lou Rizzo, Nada Eissa, and Marsha Silverberg, Evaluation of the D.C.
Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year, U.S. Department of Education, Institute of
Education Sciences, June 2007,
http://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20074009; and Patrick Wolf,
Babette Gutmann, Michael Puma, and Marsha Silverberg, Evaluation of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship
Program: Second Year Report on Participation, U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education
Sciences, April 2006, http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20064003.
72
“White House Says Obama Will Not Allow D.C. School Vouchers To Expire,” CBS News
Political Hot Sheet, March 11, 2009,
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/11/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4860043.shtml
; and Andrew J. Coulson, “Obama First Dem President to Support Vouchers,” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato
Institute, March 13, 2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/03/12/obama-first-dem-
president-to-support-vouchers/. See also S. Murray, “Senate Approves $410 Billion Bill,” March 11,
2009; and Lisa Snell, “The Inconsistencies In President Obama’s Education Plans,” Out of Control Blog,
Reason Foundation,, March 18, 2009, http://reason.org/news/show/1007123.html; cf. April 29,
2009, “Letter from Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Rep. Darrell Issa
(R-CA) to Education secretary Arne Duncan,”
http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/letters/200904209D.C.OSPreport.pdf;
73
During his presidential campaign last year, then Sen. Obama told the American Federation of
Teachers that “I do oppose is using public money for private school vouchers. We need to focus on fixing
and improving our public schools; not throwing our hands up and walking away from them,” even though
he does just that by sending his daughters to private schools. See “Obama and the AFT,” New York Sun

2
editorial, July 14, 2008, http://www.nysun.com/editorials/obama-and-the-aft/81804/; and Elizabeth Green,
“Obama Tells Teachers Union He Opposes Vouchers,” New York Sun, July 14, 2008,
http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obama-tells-teachers-union-he-opposes-vouchers/81801/.
74
Kara Rowland, “Document shows Dems' voucher plan,” Washington Times, March 12, 2009,
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/12/dems-true-stance-vouchers-revealed/.
75
Snell, “Inconsistencies in President Obama’s Education Plans,” March 18, 2009. See also Vicki
Murray, “Why Not Expand Successful G.I. Bill Concept to K-12?” Human Events, June 18, 2009,
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32343.
76
April 2, 2009, letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from Rep. John A. Boehner (R-OH),
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jo Ann
Emerson (R-MO), and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), provided to Vicki Murray on June 25, 2009, via email
from Congressional staff.
77
Glod, “Study Supports School Vouchers,” April 4, 2009.
78
Students perform from 3.7 months to more than 19 months ahead of their public school peers who
did not get scholarships in reading. See Wolf, et al., Impacts After Three Years, March 2009, pp. 13-14.
79
Brian Westley, “Report on vouchers finds modest gains in reading,” Associated Press, quoted in
the Washington D.C. Examiner, April 3, 2009,
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:6TcX6vUerzgJ:www.examiner.com/printa-
1942537~Report_on_vouchers_finds_modest_gains_in_reading.html+%22Report+on+vo
uchers+finds+modest+gains+in+reading%22+westley&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us; cf.
Eddy Ramírez, “Low-Income Students Receiving Vouchers Make Reading Gains,” U.S. News & World
Report, April 7, 2009, http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2009/04/07/low-income-
students-receiving-vouchers-make-reading-gains.html;Virginia Gentles, “Report released in
early April criticized,” School Reform News, June 1, 2009,
http://www.heartland.org/publications/school%20reform/article/25362/Parents_Children_
Rally_for_School_Choice_in_D.C..html.
80
“Don't Pull the Plug Yet,” Washington Post editorial, April 4, 2009.
81
For extensive summaries of media and blogosphere coverage, see Jay P. Greene, “D.C. Voucher
Buzz,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 6, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/06/D.C.-voucher-
buzz/; Greene, “More D.C. Voucher Buzz,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 7, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/07/more-D.C.-voucher-buzz/; Matthew Ladner, “D.C. Voucher
Buss Part Trois,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 9, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/09/D.C.-
voucher-buzz-part-trois/; Greene, “The Hits Keep on Coming,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 14, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/14/the-hits-keep-on-coming/; Greene, “The Hits Keep on
Coming, Extended Dance Remix,” April 18, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/18/the-hits-
keep-on-coming-extended-dance-remix/; Greene, “The Hits Keep Coming, Friday Night Massacres
Just Couldn’t Bury This Story,”, April 23, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/23/the-hits-keep-
coming-friday-night-massacres-just-couldnt-bury-this-story/; Ladner, “Democrats for
Education Reform and BAEO Weigh In,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 23, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/23/democrats-for-education-reform-and-baeo-weigh-in/.
See also Coulson, “Better Results at a QUARTER the Cost,” April 3, 2009; Glod, “Study Supports School
Vouchers,”, April 4, 2009; Ladner, “Vouching for D.C.,” National Review Online, April 6, 2009,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YjA4NjNhNDMyMWE0MGZiMjY1MjBjYjU3NT
RlODNjNjY; David Harsanyi, “Arne Duncan's Fundamental Dishonesty,” Denver Post, April 8, 2009,
http://www.denverpost.com/harsanyi/ci_12092758; Deroy Murdock, “Obama Admin. Stifles
Favorable D.C. Voucher Study,” RealClearPolitics.com, April 10, 2009,
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/obama_admin_stifles_favorable.html;
Ladner, “The Chicago Tribune on D.C. Vouchers,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog, April 12, 2009,

2
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/12/the-chicago-tribune-on-D.C.-vouchers/; Neal McCluskey,
“Making Sure the Job Gets Done,” Cato@Libety.org, Cato Institute, April 13, 2009, http://www.cato-
at-liberty.org/2009/04/13/making-sure-the-job-gets-done/; “What Works for Teachers Unions,”
Heritage Foundation, April 14, 2009; Mike Petrilli, “From hot to cold on vouchers,” Flypaper blog,
Thomas B. Fordham Institute, April 16, 2009,
http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/index.php/2009/04/from-hot-to-cold-on-vouchers/;
and Williams, “Obama’s Outrageous Sin,” April 20, 2009.
82
April 29, 2009, Letter from Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to Education secretary Arne Duncan,
http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/letters/200904209D.C.OSPreport.pdf.
83
Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, “Secretary Duncan Is Not
Lying,” Brookings Institution, April 9, 2009,
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/0409_duncan_whitehurst.aspx; cf. Ladner, “D.C.
Voucher Buss Part Trois,” April 9, 2009; Andrew J. Coulson, “Whitehurst: ‘Duncan Is Not Lying’,”
Cato@Liberty.org, April 10, 2009, http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/04/10/whitehurst-
duncan-is-not-lying/; and Jay P. Greene, “Greg in PJM,” Jay P. Greene Blog, April 12, 2009,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/page/6/.
84
April 6, 2009, Letter from U.S. Secretary of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement,
http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/DoEdReinoso%20Letter.pdf. See also April 2, 2009, letter to
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan from Rep. John A. Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Rep.
Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO), and Rep. Jason
Chaffetz (R-UT), provided to Vicki Murray on June 25, 2009, via email from Congressional staff.
85
May 5, 2009, letter to Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) from Secretary Arne Duncan
provided to Vicki Murray by Congressional staff on June 25, 2009.
86
The Act states that “available educational alternatives to the public schools are insufficient, and
more educational options are needed. In particular, funds are needed to assist low-income parents to
exercise choice among enhanced public opportunities and private education environments…” Quoted in
“D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program: Preserving School Choice for All,” statement of Sen. Joe
Lieberman (ID-CT), Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, May 13, 2009,
p. 3, http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/051309JILOpen.pdf.
87
“Presumed Dead: Politics is driving the destruction of the District's school voucher program,”
Washington Post, April 11, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/04/10/AR2009041003073.html. See also Neal McCluskey, “The More
Obama ‘Challenges,’ the More Education Will Look the Same,” Cat@Liberty.org, April 6, 2009,
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/04/06/the-more-obama-challenges-the-more-
education-looks-the-same/; “Now comes Mr. Duncan with the sword,” Flypaper blog, Thomas B.
Fordham Institute, April 13, 2009,
http://www.edexcellence.net/flypaper/index.php/2009/04/now-comes-mr-duncan-with-
the-sword/; Mary Katherine Ham, “Democratic Administration Usurping Rights of D.C. Scholarship
Parents in New and Exciting Ways,” The Blog, Weekly Standard, April 13, 2009,
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/04/democratic_administration_u
sur.asp; Matt Welch, “Education Secretary Shovels Dirt on D.C. Vouchers’ Grave,” April 14, 2009, Hit
and Run, Reason Foundation, http://www.reason.com/blog/show/132882.html; “What Works for
Teachers Unions,” Heritage Foundation, April 14, 2009; Glenn Beck, “Education in America is Broken,”
Fox News, April 17, 2009, http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517019,00.html; Williams,
“Obama’s Outrageous Sin,” April 20, 2009; Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), “Senator Ensign Addresses
Legislature,” April 17, 2009, KOLOTV.com,
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/43117362.html; Arne Duncan, “School Reform Means
Doing What’s Best for Kids,” Wall Street Journal, April 22, 2009,

2
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124035679795740971.html; Peter Roff, “Obama Wrong on
D.C. School Vouchers and Hypocritical, Just Like Congress,” U.S. News & World Report, April 22, 2009,
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/peter-roff/2009/04/22/obama-wrong-on-D.C.-school-
vouchers-and-hypocritical-just-like-congress.html; Adam Schaeffer, “Arne Duncan Wins the
Chutzpa Award . . .,” Cato@Liberty.org, Cato Institute, April 22, 2009, http://www.cato-at-
liberty.org/2009/04/22/arne-duncan-wins-the-chutzpa-award/; George Will, “Compassionate
liberalism,” Greensboro News & Record, April 23, 2009, http://www.news-
record.com/content/2009/04/22/article/george_will_compassionate_liberalism; “The
Audacity of Hypocrisy,” Morning Bell, The Heritage Foundation, April 24, 2009,
http://blog.heritage.org/2009/04/24/morning-bell-the-audacity-of-hypocrisy/; and the
remarks of Rev. Al Sharpton, quoted in Mort Kondracke, “Obama, Duncan Need to Succeed on School
Reform,” Real Clear Politics, April 24, 2009,
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/04/24/obama_duncan_need_to_succeed_o
n_school_reform_96150.html.
88
“A Plea to Mr. Duncan,” Washington Post, July 10, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2009/07/09/AR2009070902542_pf.html; “D.C. Council Wants Vouchers,” Wall Street
Journal, July 14, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124743971109829635.html; and Vicki E. Murray
and Evelyn B. Stacey, “School-House Rocked-D.C. City Council Members Stand Up for Students, Tell
Duncan to Hand Back Vouchers,” Inkwell Blog, Independent Women’s Forum, July 14, 2009,
http://www.iwf.org/inkwell/show/21752.html.
89
“An Interview With Education Secretary Arne Duncan,” Science, Vol. 324, no. 5924, April 10,
2009, p. 159, http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/324/5924/159/D.C.1.
90
“Lieberman, Collins Urge Education Secretary to Reverse Decision to Rescind Scholarships
From Children of Low-Income Families in Washington, D.C.,” April 21, 2009, press release,
http://lieberman.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=311705; cf. Matthew Ladner,
“Lieberman and Collins: Save the 200 victims of the Friday Night Massacre,” Jay P. Greene’s Blog. April
23, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/23/lieberman-and-collins-save-the-200-victims-
of-the-friday-night-massacre/.
91
Arne Duncan, “School Reform Means Doing What’s Best for Kids,” Wall Street Journal, April
22, 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124035679795740971.html.
92
Matthew Ladner, “Bipartisan Senate Groups Asks Duncan to Reverse Good Friday Massacre,”
April 29, 2009, reproduction of Senators’ April 29, 2009, letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan,
http://jaypgreene.com/2009/04/.
93
April 29, 2009, Letter from Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to Education secretary Arne Duncan,
http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/letters/200904209D.C.OSPreport.pdf; cf. Jay
P. Greene’s Blog, “More Letters to Arne,” May 1, 2009, http://jaypgreene.com/2009/05/01/more-
letters-to-arne/.
94
Washington Scholarship Fund, “Nearly 2,000 and Children Demanded Local Officials Support
School Choice,” May 6, 2009, press release,
http://www.washingtonscholarshipfund.org/PDF/rally.pdf; Allison Kasic, “More Video from
Last Week's School Choice Rally,” Inkwell Blog, Independent Women’s Forum, May 13, 2009,
compliments of Reason.TV,
http://www.iwf.org/inkwell/show/21481.html.%20compliments%20of%20Reason.TV;
“D.C. School Choice Rally, May 5, 2009, http://www.iwf.org/news/show/21448.html;” and V.
Murray, “Hypocrisy in High Places,” May 13, 2009.
95
“Statement of Anthony A. Williams, Former Mayor of Washington D.C. and Chairman of D.C.
Children First before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs,” United States

20090813 Down but Not Out in DC Bi-Partisan, Bi-Cameral Efforts to Continue the Opportunity Scholarship Program

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